Five things to get excited about at MWC 2017

Mobile World Congress kicks off on Saturday, February 25th, and we’re expecting some major tech announcements from several of the top handset companies.

On Saturday:

BlackBerry “Mercury” Details

One of the first big vendors at the show to show off its latest stuff, TCL (Blackberry) is expected to provide details on its “Mercury” smartphone, which we got a taste of at CES.

Sunday, February 26, will follow with new announcements from LG, Huawei, HMD Global (Nokia), Lenovo (Motorola) and Samsung.

ON SUNDAY:

The LG G6

LG’s G6 flagship will likely sport a waterproof design, minimized bezels, and maybe even the Google Assistant built-in. Unfortunately, the G6 probably won’t feature the latest Snapdragon processor (which is likely reserved for the Galaxy S8 at first), and will instead opt for the Snapdragon 821, which is the processor that powers many current flagships like the Google Pixel and OnePlus 3T.

Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S3

Serving as Samsung’s top-of-the-line tablet, the Galaxy Tab S3 is expected to feature a high-res 4:3 display, fingerprint scanner, and perhaps best of all, an S-Pen stylus. The stylus should make the Tab S3 desirable to notetakers and artists, and may bring Samsung’s top tablet closer to the iPad Pro with Apple Pencil. Only time will tell, but it looks like Samsung has a powerful slate to unveil.

A Nokia 3310 Throwback

The Nokia 3310 was a favorite phone of the 2000’s, and it seems that it will make a comeback this year at MWC. The new version of the feature phone (not a smartphone) is said to add a color display, refined design, and three color variants. If you’re in the market for a more basic phone, this could be the one to get. Who doesn’t love a throwback?

ON MONDAY:

A new collection of Sony smartphones

Sony’s sales have somewhat stagnated lately, so the brand is hoping to breathe new life into its smartphone department. Leaks seem to point to a new Sony flagship with tiny bezels and a handsome design. Yes, please.

In short, it seems that just about the only thing MWC will be missing this year is the Galaxy S8, which is expected to be unveiled within the coming months. What are you hoping to see most at MWC?